The “Richer” Interface

Search

On more than a few
occasions—most recently
in the context of Avalon—I’ve observed here that both IT admins and end-users
prefer browser-based apps to traditional compiled clients, for everything
except content creation.
Every time, I get emails and incoming pointers from people saying “You just
don’t get it, the Web interfaces are so tired, we really need a richer UI
paradigm.”
The interesting thing is that these reactions are always—every time, without
exception—from developers.
Not once has an end-user type person written in
saying they wished they could have a richer interface like the kind they used
to have in compiled desktop apps.
I work for
a company that sells a damn snappy,
highly interactive user interface that’s entirely in and of the browser (and
BTW is very standards-compliant); so it can be done.
I have all sorts of theories about whose interests are being served by these
efforts to take us back to the client/server era, but I know for sure that
it’s not about making users happy. Nor the IT staff either.